


Marooned

by sanctum_c



Category: Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Pirate, F/F, Pirates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:08:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23935105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctum_c/pseuds/sanctum_c
Summary: Tifa Lockhart, former pirate captain of the Ragnarok, wandered alone along the sea-shore. Forced from her ship by a mutinous crew paid off by the Shinra Trading Company, abandoned on a drab sliver of land miles and miles from anywhere.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough/Tifa Lockhart
Comments: 4
Kudos: 65





	Marooned

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by _Pirates of the Caribbean_ and _On Stranger Tides_ (and maybe _Monkey Island_ too)

Tifa Lockhart, former pirate captain of the Ragnarok, wandered alone along the sea-shore. Forced from her ship by a mutinous crew paid off by the Shinra Trading Company, abandoned on a drab sliver of land miles and miles from anywhere. Little shade, no food, no water. She would find another way out of this situation. In other circumstances the island would in many ways be perfect. Calm and quiet. The sea gorgeously blue and clear. The sand golden, bordering on white.

But the sun beat down mercilessly and the time since her last meal was pressing heavily upon her. There was some vain hope the mutineers were not familiar with the island and it was the nearest location they spotted to abandon her on. Hopefully there was a spring or some animal population. Fruit maybe. Something, anything to help her survive. Foolish hope. Far more likely they knew full well how little was here, how soon she would suffer. Escape- A wild dream at present, but something to aim for. There were trees and a raft was not out the realms of possibility – assuming she could fell the trees.

The beach continued past a high cliff into a cove. The tide swept out to reveal a path across damp sand around and beyond the cliff. Unlikely to be anything of worth there, but taking stock and inventory of the island was an important first action. She darted across the sand, boots sinking as she ran. And past. Sea weed further up the beach – the tide would need to noted if and when she came back here. Little else of note. The beach formed a crescent stretching from one cliff to another. No sign of land past there. Unclear from here if the beach double-backed on the other side of the island or there was somewhere further to explore.

Half-way across the cove, sun still hot. Tifa paused, pulling her hat from her head and wiping her brow with one sleeve. There was a woman sitting in the surf.

What?

A woman. Naked, her bare back towards Tifa, long brunette hair reaching the water. Someone else here. Tifa cleared her throat. “Hi.”

The woman glanced over her shoulder, her lips quirking into a grin. “Hi.” She shifted around making no move to leave the surf. “It’s been some time since I last encountered a visitor.”

“My humblest apologies-“ She ventured closer, gave her name and related the story of the mutiny. “You live here?”

The woman blinked. “Yes. And my apologies too. My name is- Aeris.” A nod. “Yes. Aeris. Don’t have a last name.” She cocked her head to one side. “You are in need to a ship then Captain?”

Tifa chuckled. “I am, I am,, but such a consideration is some time off. I need some way off the island, favourable winds and a loyal crew.” She settled onto the sand, up from the tideline; the tide was coming in and Aeris was gradually venturing closer. Tifa had already taken one swim today and was instead venturing further away. “The first is the most pressing. The second I will trust the fates. And the third IS something I have to believe I can find again.”

Aeris hummed. “You would not be content to stay here? Even after the betrayals?”

The island could support at least one person it seemed. Perhaps another. But- “I have unfinished business out in the world. Things I dreamed of accomplishing. Your home is beautiful, but the threat of Shinra-“ She shook her head. “My own actions may not make much of a difference, but they must be resisted.”

“I thought no one cared enough to resist them.” A grin. “I am glad that you would take such a responsibility upon yourself.”

“You know about Shinra?” There was something missing somewhere. Somehow Aeris knew of the world beyond the coast of this isle. “Of their Mako engines and the pollutants they leak?”

A pained expression crossed Aeris’s face. “I AM well acquainted with the damage they cause. But I offer a new apology; it is sadly always a surprise to find others care about the damage they wreak, most more concerned with increasing speeds.” She knelt up and reached out. “Give me your hand.” Warily, Tifa reached out. Aeris took a hold of it and clasped it with her other. “I will help you in your quest.”

“Oh?” Tifa grinned.

“Yes. You will have what you need, the winds and tides will be in your favour. A crew who believe as you do will be yours.” She brought Tifa’s hand up to her lips. “I ask only you return to this island in one year’s time. Fail and-“ A grim smile. “Let it not come to that.”

Tifa tried to cling to something. The press of Aeris’s lips against her hands, her promises, the veiled threat, the request to come back. “You have a ship?” Truly the most pressing part of her words?

“I will send word.” She glanced out to sea. “But you must promise me.”

“I promise.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.” Tifa emphasised her commitment.

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Aeris studied her. “That’s three times your promised. Good.” She stood and walked backwards into the sea. “Head to the far end of the island and wait two days.” She ducked underwater and did not re-surface. A strange sinking sensation in Tifa’s stomach. What had she agreed to? What was Aeris? There were tales amongst some sailors; absurd fantasies from long voyages and little water. Seductive women who would lure ships onto the rocks to feast on the helpless crew.

Was Aeris similar? Or something else? What awaited her at the far end of the island? “Aeris?” No response, no sign of her. “Aeris?” Louder, the surf still threatening to drown her out. Nothing. Not as if she had anything better to do; Tifa wandered back around the cliff, barely noticing the water washing over the tops of her boots. At the tip of the island was nothing but sea all around. A small copse of trees offered a little shade and coconuts. She would not die yet.

Tifa wandered for the two days. Never willing to stray far from the end of the island, always coming back to check. Nothing changed. At what point should she abandon her promise to Aeris, an entity who did not seem human? Trustworthy? But what was there to lose if she did not? Little now. She could wait these days and return to exploring the island and her own escape after the time elapsed.

On the evening of the second day a ship washed onto the shore of the island. An older ship but with the hull and sails intact. Name painted on the side: ‘Seventh Heaven.’ Amazing, impossible. The next day a crewman arrived.

* * *

Cloud Strife, former mercenary had an odd story to tell – one shared by the rest of Tifa’s crew as they joined. “Aeris asked me to help you.” Cloud was sat beside the fire, the Seventh Heaven ready to set out the next morning with an idea of where to head for first.

“She just.. asked you?” Tifa narrowed her eyes.

Cloud smiled. “Yeah. I met her a few years ago.” He coughed. “Complicated story and a little embarrassing. She helped get me sorted out. Asked for a favour one day. Two days ago she called it in.”

Tifa licked her lips. Was there any way of asking her question delicately? In what context had Cloud met her? “Do you- What is- Is she...”

“I don’t know either.” A wistful expression crossed his face. “I don’t think anyone does. But you can trust her – so long as you keep your word.” As if the arrival of both Cloud and Seventh Heaven was not indication enough of her abilities. Aeris was absent from the cove on the return visit before Tifa set sail. A shame; Tifa made careful note of the island’s location before heading to open sea.

Cloud directed her to find Barret Wallace – a man whose daughter Aeris saved from a storm years before. Yuffie Kisaragi would tell Tifa of Aeris’s gift of the secret to summoning the sea-serpent Leviathan as part of her own vendetta against Shinra. Cid Highwind, Reeve Tuesti, Vincent Valentine, Jessie, Biggs, Wedge. Her crew all knew Aeris in some capacity. She had helped and ASKED a favour from each as payment – and the payment was to assist Tifa. Perhaps ship’s cat Nanaki had a similar tale but he SAID little beyond ‘Miaow’.

Together they fought back against Shinra, the winds, the currents and luck always on their side.

* * *

One year later, the Seventh Heaven dropped anchor beside an island present on few charts and never named. Tifa Lockhart went ashore alone, unsure of what awaited her. She retraced her steps down the beach, glancing back at irregular intervals. The Seventh Heaven still waited. Too far now to check if the crew were still there. They must be. But each of her crew worked for Tifa as part of their debt to Aeris, what would her payment be? Pressed into service for some other captain? Hard not to worry about getting eaten, but surely given everything she had learned about Aeris, she would not be predatory?

Impossible to say. Tifa rounded the cliff- And nothing. The cove was empty. Somehow disappointing. She had come back at the appointed time. Did she have to be at the right spot? Aeris had made no mention, but- Tifa made her way along the beach. “Tifa.”

The voice made her heart lurch. A familiar figure stood in the surf. “Aeris.” She pressed one hand to her chest, heart racing. “Sorry, I thought-“

Aeris smiled. “It’s fine. Has it all helped?”

“The ship and the crew? Absolutely.”

“And the winds and the currents?” Aeris’s smile widened. “Those too?”

“They have always been good to us.” An admission on her part?

“I am happy to have helped. But-“ Her expression became more serious. “The small matter of payment remains.”

Tifa’s stomach lurched. Was this what it was like for the others when she came for them? “Of course. What do I owe you?”

“A kiss-“ And Aeris was beside her, her lips pressed to Tifa’s. And Tifa kissed back, her arms around Aeris’s bare back. Surely this was not payment for Aeris; this all felt too good, too right, too wonderful. After an eternity they surfaced. “I think you might have given me too much. But then again, I am greedy.”

Tifa grinned, feeling absurd. “And here I was worried you were going to eat me.”

The smile on Aeris’s face vanished. “Oh, no. I absolutely intend to eat you. Later.” Her left eyebrow arched, her smile now wide and Tifa’s body was on the verge of igniting. She crashed her lips together with Aeris’s again. Whatever she was, she was wonderful.


End file.
